Cuba – Holy Cigars!

December 12-14

My heart is in Havana, Havana-na-na-na.

Camilla Ceballos’ global hit about Cuba’s capital has once more brought it global attention. It didn’t need to; Havana has culture bursting out of its seams.

Street art in Havana

A mojito

Let’s cover one of the things people think Havana doesn’t have first before diving into the fun factory. Contrary to popular belief, you can get online in Cuba’s capital…in designated public areas. Parks, mainly. Seeing parks packed at night with people huddled over their phones and laptops was funny but also a sad indictment of how cut off Cuba has been from the rest of the world. It made my Christmas bombshell easier to keep – no one could post pictures of me pottering around in Havana to spoil the surprise.

The park on San Rafael boulevard is a Wi-Fi hotspot in Havana

People getting their Wi-Fi fix at midnight

The silence of these parks, with everyone focused on the screen, was striking, particularly as Havana is a city of noise. The edges of the plazas often have bars, from which a steady stream of chatter and music flows. Cuban music is everywhere.

A man strumming away in Plaza del Armas

Tourists are often serenaded for tips in restaurants in Havana Vieja

I didn’t see a ukulele being used during my time in Havana but there are many other instruments used in a stereotypical performance. On the night I met my travelling group, I got to use some of these after being called up to stage. I’d prefer to focus on my abilities when using the shaker and drums, rather than my attempt at dancing.

Being taught to shake my maraca and my body to the beat

Performing to an audience isn’t for everyone. Luckily in Cuba they have a cure for stage fright: rum. Rum of all kind and colour can be found in every street. It even gets served in coffee! More commonly, people will have their rum in the form of a mojito or cuba libre.

A mojito consists of white rum, sugar,
lime juice, soda water and mint

Havana Club is the most popular brand of rum

The stereotype of Cuban culture would be that you have your rum – neat or in cocktail form – with a chunky cigar. I’ll talk more about cigars when I leave Havana, though the capital does have the longest cigar…in the world. 90 metres in length, it would take a lot of time – and lung capacity – to smoke it.

These are two of the longest cigars ever produced; the bottom
one is the longest

The creator of the world's longest cigar

This cigar is found in the San Carlos fort, near to which is a large statue of Jesus. It was finished 6 days before the revolution was declared successful in 1959, which some here cling to as having meaning. The more popular joke is that they made this particular depiction look Cuban – apparently his hands are shaped so that they would naturally hold a bottle of rum in one hand and a cigar in the other.

The statue is 20 metres high

Cigar in the right hand?

Catholicism is one of many legacies left by the Spanish, who claimed Cuba in the sixteenth century and held it until the Spanish-Cuban-American War in 1898. Another are the beautiful plazas dotted around Havana Vieja (Old Havana), the eastern side of the city.

The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, which is now a museum

Plaza Vieja

Religion is an interesting topic in Cuba. Catholicism dominates, with others believing parts of the Afro-Cuban religion known as Santeria. There is one mosque in the country, built in the last decade for Muslim foreign dignitaries to use. All of these, however, go against the political philosophy Cuba has championed for the last 60 years.

Plaza de la Catedral

A piece in an art museum depicting the Cuban flag

Cuba focused on a socialist philosophy during this time, and religion doesn’t really fit. Consequently there was tension between church and state, with party members not being allowed to go to church and Christians not being able to progress in the party or society.

In spite of the consequences, many were still proud
Catholics during the Fidel Castro era

A narrow street in Centro Habana

This was one of many policies introduced by Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro, who ruled from 1959 until 2006. To say he was a divisive figure in world politics would be an understatement. Some see him as a hero, others see him as a despot. He died in 2016 and a non-Castro was elected as President earlier this year. You don’t actually see his face, owing to the idea here that you don’t portray leaders who are still alive (this is a massive contrast to Central Asia and many African countries, where the picture of the current President has to be visual in every house and office). The main place you’ll find Fidel is on one of the banknotes of Cuba’s ‘local’ currency.

The CUC currency (left) used by tourists is worth 25 national (right)

A photo from an art museum, depicting the sorrow at
Fidel Castro's funeral in 2016

Our guide talked about Fidel’s ‘mistakes’ during his time in charge, and gave an example of how the challenge of religion was rectified. Religious holidays were banned as part of the revolution and it remained that way until Pope John Paul II visited in 1998. Thereafter, Christmas was made a national holiday in Cuba. Some decorations were visible, though a lack of resources spares Havana from becoming too ostentatious.

Merry Christmas is Feliz Navidad in Spanish

In spite of an embargo, plenty of 'interesting'
Christmas decorations are visible in Cuba

That lack of resources, mainly due to the trade embargo placed on the country by the United States, has become part of the culture as well. Many good are recycled and fixed when most of us would send them to the scrapheap. Tourism is increasing, as evidenced by the cruise ships docked in Havana’s harbour, which will bring some much-needed cash to the country. Maybe then they can invest in the technology needed to give people internet connectivity in places other than hotels and public parks.

Havana has berths for two cruise ships at present;
this may expand to 6 in the next few years

A man staring into the distance on the Malecon

What I’ve enjoyed most about Havana is walking around the city. It has so much potential, so much character…and so much music. It may be a tricky place to live - and certain areas are foul with the sight and stench of rubbish - but it is a lively capital. I can certainly see why many people’s hearts are in Havana. Havana-na-na-na.

A man playing an early morning tune near the Malecon

Jesus' view of Havana

Love you all,

Matt

Cuba – Vitality in Viñales

December 13-14

Hello everyone!

Cuba is one of the larger islands in the Caribbean and possesses wildly varying landscapes. Time to leave Havana and explore the sights, sounds and smells of the country, starting in Valle de Viñales.

Transport can be a bit different outside of Havana...

A fruit juice stand

Smell is arguably the most important sense in this western province of Cuba as it is the goldmine of the country’s most famous export: its cigars. Tobacco farms with green shoots sprouting from the reddish-brown earth are a common sight near the town of Viñales.

Cigars from Cuba became popular after Christopher Columbus
brought the tobacco back to Spain

The farms are in stunning settings

Owing to its economic model, most cigars are made in factories near Havana, but some of these tobacco farms are allowed to sell a small portion of cigars to visitors. We were shown how cigars are created, from starting life as tiny seeds through to the rolling together of the dried tobacco leafs.

The strength of the cigar is determined by the location of the leaf
on the tobacco plant - the stronger taste is from the higher leaves

After five months, the leaves can be rolled into cigars

It would of course to remiss not to try one of these cigars when in their spiritual home. Interestingly, they recommended dipping the end which goes in your mouth in honey or whisky, to enhance the flavour.

This is a Cohiba, which many think is Cuba's best cigar brand

The Viñales valley may be the home of cigars but Cuba’s other famous export, its rum, is ubiquitous. Drinks such as the mojito and cuba libre can be found everywhere in Viñales for a very cheap price. They also don’t seem to bother with measuring the amount of rum, which I greatly appreciate.

One of many marvellous mojitos

$2 for a lot of rum

The prevalence of rum contributes to a party atmosphere in the small town. On the second night, a Saturday, the main street running through Viñales closed to traffic and became a set of open-air barbecues, with live music at one end and a wild dance party at the other. What struck me was the number of Cubans who were out – this wasn’t an event created for tourists.

The street party was right next to the main church - read
into that what you will...

The previous night had been even more cultural. We had gone to the one ‘nightclub’ in the town, a ton of tables and chairs scattered around a small dance floor. Large Cuban ladies boomed out passionate songs called boleros in between cabaret-style performances from a group of colourful dancers. The crowd often sang along with the ladies, with some even getting up to shimmy and shake to the music. We realised there weren’t many foreigners in the club when the singers and dancers kept coming over to us for tips.

Cigars, rum and late night partying – it’s a wonder that Cubans can rouse themselves to do anything during the day. If any landscape is going to inspire you, it would be the Valle de Viñales. Large limestone rocks, called mogotes, magically appear throughout the national park, with clouds blanketing the tops.

One of the days was grey and cloudy, resulting
in the mountains being blanketed

The view from one of the mountains

I didn’t really research much about Cuba before arriving so this panorama of mini-mountains was a pleasant surprise. I used the opportunity to hike, climbing one of the mountains to the west of town…and then climbing it again to get back to the road once I realised there was no possible route through from the other side of the rock.

View of the Vinales valley

It was at this point that I had to turn around and retrace my steps

There is another method of moving around the mogotes – using a zipline. This was probably my favourite activity in Viñales. The four sections, totalling a kilometre in length, allowed you a breath-taking view of the valley below and were relatively gentle.

Zipping through the trees

There are no pictures or videos from the line itself, owing to the massive gloves we were required to wear. I’ve been told Cubans are very resourceful but these seem like they were stolen from a welder.

The final line was about 400 metres long

Many of the rocks have small cave systems within their outer shells. The one I entered, Cueva de San Miguel, used to be used as an escape route by slaves. Throughout the cave there are sculptures of fauna which these slaves may have encountered, such as frogs and snakes.

The caves were narrow and much cooler - and drier - than outside

Many stone sculptures of animals were visible in the cave

Just as I was about to exit the cave, a long, thin, green figure shot out from a hole in the side of the cave, springing across my feet. It turns out this is the first part of an Afro-Cuban traditional ceremony you get to watch, which involves drumming and a man extinguishing a flaming baton in his undercarriage. Very confusing, particularly with my lack of Spanish. Ever the teacher, I may have added a rude word to their vocabulary when the piece of fabric – the ‘snake’ – crossed my feet.

The traditional religion is called Santeria

The main sights in the valley are quite spread out. Rather than shelling out many pesos each time for a taxi, I tried to make use of Viñales’ hop-on, hop-off bus. I say tried – it left at 9am as scheduled but couldn’t get to the canopy for the zipline as, unbeknownst to the driver, the road had been closed for a cycling race. Being a slightly impatient and active person, I decided to walk to the aforementioned cave. The weather was changeable – let’s just say I was glad I had my coat. The driver smiled as he passed the drenched rat an hour later.

Amazing mountains 

A mountain view after a wet and wild morning

The bus worked successfully for a while after that until the time I needed it the most – getting back from the zipline area, where I had scaled the mountain (twice), to Viñales. Simply put, the bus didn’t show. This meant trekking another 5 km back to town, so I set off with an American hiker and a dog who seemed keen to guide and protect us on our walk.

Tobacco fields

Local casas with a hill looming behind

There are many dogs here but they are probably outnumbered by horses, which seem to be a common method of transport. About halfway down the road, a man with a horse and cart – and romantic music playing out of a boom box – stopped and asked us if we wanted a ride. Paco took us back to town, showing that Cuban people are friendly as well as lots of fun.

Paco with his horse

It’s always nice to get out of the larger cities and explore the countryside, particularly when it is as lush and green as the Viñales valley. With all that walking, I feel I fully deserved my many mojitos. Viñales, the home of cigars, certainly deserves its reputation as a place to definitely visit in Cuba.

Love you all,

Matt